Slovak Apartheid

The Fund continues the work of the Svinia Project in the realm of housing. This emphasis results from the recognition - attained through extensive research and community involvement - that social integration in Svinia and similar communities cannot be achieved without the breakdown of physical barriers which exclude the Roma from white neighbourhoods. Although Slovakia officially adheres to the European Union's progressive human rights legislation, tens of thousands of the country's Roma live in conditions which profoundly challenge our notions of modern Europe. Running water, electricity, proper waste disposal, adequate living space and legal home ownership are luxuries that most Roma can only dream of.

Conditions differ sharply between Romani settlements and rural white communities. Unlike the ethnic Slovak villagers who occupy spacious homes equipped with modern amenities and surrounded by gardens and fields, the Roma are typically squatters confined to crowded and marginal areas situated at some distance from schools, stores and municipal services. Here they dwell in run-down apartment buildings left over from the socialist era, and primitive huts slapped together from mud bricks and scavenged materials.

Although most Romani settlements plainly contradict Slovak and EU standards related to housing and public health, few municipal authorities try to change the deplorable living conditions of their Romani constituents. The 'Gypsy question' is not popular with White voters, and local, regional and national politics reflect that. Svinia provides a textbook example of what happens to politicians who attempt to change the status quo. Here, a progressive mayor and council participated in the implementation of a community development project that envisioned the provision of new housing for all local Roma. In spite of financial and political support from the national government, the European Union, the Canadian International Development Agency, and several influential NGOs, the 2002 municipal elections swept the Roma-friendly administration from power and installed a reactionary council which quashed the Svinia Project and relegated the Roma to the bottom of political priorities.

For the vast majority of rural Roma, the settlement constitutes a destiny which very few can escape. Urban migration has become increasingly difficult thanks to rising housing costs and attempts by many city councils to bar Roma from commercially lucrative districts. The purchase of homes in neighbouring villages is problematic because of financial constraints and resistance of white residents. The sale of 'white property' to a Romani buyer is considered so heinous an act that its perpetrator faces automatic loss of status in the community.

Just how entrenched the informal apartheid system is can be gleaned from the Slovak experience of Habitat For Humanity, the world's largest builder of affordable homes. In 1999, HFH set up its Slovak headquarters in Svinia in order to help construct between twenty and thirty new homes. Confronted by a hostile white establishment, the organization pulled out four years later without any tangible accomplishment.

Although they are nominally full-fledged Slovak and EU citizens, the residential segregation imposed upon rural Roma seriously curtails their ability to participate in all realms of life.